How to Make Compost to Gladden the Hearts of a Worm# 2 - Practicalities

(# worms have 5 pairs of hearts I like worms)

  In a Nutshell

It is better if you can make a large heap of compost in one go

Shred the material that you add to the heap, this is one of the best things you can do make quality compost.

 Make sure you mix brown and green material together, the exact proportions are can vary quite a bit, just make sure that there's always some of each and always more brown than green.

 Put some kind of lid on the compost heap to keep the rain off and for insulation. Even if you make the compost in a proprietary "bin" with its own lid, cover the top of the compost (inside the bin) with a piece of old carpet or polystyrene to help with insulation.

 Water very well initially and keep moist afterwards, but protect from rain.

 Push a broom handle into the heap after a couple of weeks when it has settled to open it up to the air.

 Turn the heap over once complete, say after 1, 6 and 12 months. If you can manage it more than this, then all the better, this is the principle behind compost "tumblers" that are used to turn compost in a bin or barrel on a daily basis.

To make compost in the best possible way you really need two identically sized heaps, one next to the other. One that you are adding to and one that is rotting down gently after the initial heating phase is over.

Running two heaps next to each other is very effective. One can be "completed" and be rotting slowly while the other is used to add new material
	Shredding the plant material is probably the most effective thing that you can do to improve your garden compost. When buying a shredder, buy the most powerful machine that you can afford. Even if you don't have many branches as thick as its maximum size. A larger shredder will cope more easily with any material you put through it.
	Any lid on the heap is better than no lid. Here two pieces of old chipboard have been pressed into service. Old carpet (preferably foam backed) , vinyl flooring, or even a couple of bin-bags weighted down with bricks are also effective.
	Once the heap has been rotting away for some time, an extra oxygen supply by pushing in a broom handle or similar right to the ground and wiggling it around will help to continue the rotting process. I put 5 holes in the pattern of the dots on a die.

Compost 3 FAQ's